The Song of the Lonely Mountain
by DreamStar14
Summary: Emily, determined not to seem so weak, begins to work on something very secretive. What is it? And how in the world is it making the others so worried about her, and why? Post-Season 1, Pre-Season 2, Team-Bonding Story
1. Chapter 1: Secret Intentions

A/N: I've been thinking about doing this story for a while now. I guess it's finally up!

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers: Samurai, just the plot.

Note: There will be no real pairings in here, canon or not, just friendship and a bit of fluff. Yeah, it's one of those team-bonding stories. So, enjoy!

~PRS~PRS~PRS~PRS~

**The Song of the Lonely Mountain**

_**Chapter 1: Secret Intentions**_

No one could deny that it was a beautiful morning, much less a beautiful day itself, so all six of the Rangers are already in their training uniforms and they decide to train outside today. They are in the kitchen, eating breakfast, which Antonio has cooked himself. Tonight, he decides at this moment, he will make dinner for themas well. Jii pops his head in the kitchen door and calls for Emily. She leaves the room, Mentor Jii leading her outside, claiming that she has mail. Assuming it's just a letter from Serena, the others relax and continue their breakfast.

Jii returns without Emily, wanting to give the young Ranger some privacy as she opens her mail, and he overhears the Rangers talking about today's training exercises that Jayden wants to try. He sighs in exasperation, muttering _"Balance is the key."_

"Actually, instead of having you Rangers stay within the Shiba House boundaries all day," he speaks up, catching their attention, "I'm going to give you a day off."

Mike leaps up ten feet in the air with excitement. "Yes! What should we do guys?!"

"How about that state fair that's in town?" Mia suggests. The others agree to this idea, and Antonio turns to Mentor.

"Can we go right now?" He asks, being just as hyper as Mike.

Jii nods. "Of course. Have fun. Loosen up."

As the Rangers go back to their rooms to get dressed, Mike yells back, "Don't worry, Mentor! We'll bring you back a souvenir!"

~P~O~W~E~R~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~S~A~M~U~R~A~I~T~H~E~S~O~N~G~O~F~T~H~E~L~O~N~E~L~Y~M~O~U~N~T~A~I~N~

Emily finally comes in from reading her mail outside, and finding something that she didn't quite expect. She meets the others in the hallway, and they cross paths with her. Emily notices their civilian clothes, and she realizes with a pang of guilt in her heart that Jii has given them all a day off. But her mind is set. It cannot waver. It will not sway. Her mind cannot be changed.

She does not meet their eyes, not even passing them a word, her family's packet envelope clutched in her hand.

Kevin asks her, "Emily, aren't you coming to the State Park with us?" Judging by the smiles on their faces, they are all very excited and expecting to tag along.

But to their sad surprise, she turns around to face them and shakes her head. She prays that her fake smile is not so obvious. "No, sorry. Not this time."

"Why not?" Antonio asks, voicing all of their instant worry and curiosity.

"Sorry, guys," she apologizes once again and says, "Something just came up. Don't worry. I'm fine. I'll probably catch up with you guys later."

The others reluctant head out the door and Mike backs out into the foyer, asking, "You promise?"

Emily's smile widens at Mike's antics. Him using his back to open up the door was something he always. "Yes, Mike. I promise."

She turns and walks away, heavily suppressing the urge to turn around and join them in their fantastic day off.

But she can't. Not yet.

She raises the envelope in her hand to her eye level, and pulls out a smaller white envelope, already open. She pulls out the letter it contains and rereads her mother's beautiful, cursive writing. Beautiful, but slightly frantic...

Emily recalls the day when their father never came home from a community meeting, having been killed by a drunk driver on the way home. Her mother was devastated, as was Serena, and she herself had bawled like the three-year-old baby she was.

Now, judging by her mother's letter, it appears that Serena will be the next one to go, the next one to leave their tight-knit family...

She puts the letter back in the envelope and places it back in the packet. She reaches in and pulls out another small package. She opens it up for the first time, as she had not bothered to open it outside, and she can now see the beauty and its detail...

But how could a thing so beautiful be so deadly?

Emily reached back into the packet and pulled out a old, worn-down journal.

But this journal would help her...

~P~O~W~E~R~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~S~A~M~U~R~A~I~T~H~E~S~O~N~G~O~F~T~H~E~L~O~N~E~L~Y~M~O~U~N~T~A~I~N~

Jii had been watching her that morning when she revealed the contents of her mail. When it was time for lunch, he makes them both sandwiches and he brings them to the place where she indicated she would be at all day. He finds her at the secret training sight, the one that has the gravel ground underneath their feet, surrounded by thick, green trees, darn near impossible to find...

Emily is training. Standing behind a boulder, he watches as she spins a disk hooked up to her Spin Sword, a Disk he's never seen before, and he observes as her Spin Sword is engulfed in flames.

_Fire is not her element_, he carefully ponders. _Earth is, so why is she playing with fire?_

He gazes at her, observing her, as she attempts to conceal and control the flames, the same as Jayden had done when he was training with the Beetle Disk. He gets a good look at her face, which is scrunched up with pain and worry, her hazel eyes filled with sadness and a troubled spirit, yet burning with determination. He winces as the fire bites back, hard, and she is flown back through the air by the shockwave the Disk releases and she hits the large boulder behind her. She cries out in pain as her back takes the brunt of the hit.

Placing the tray of sandwiches on a nearby flat-surfaced rock, he kneels next to her Sword in order to get a better look at the Disk she is using. It is black with five distinguished shapes on it: a red pentagon with fire within it, a blue hexagon housing water, a pink circle containing wind, a green square with leaves within it, and finally, completing the circle the five shapes create, is a yellow triangle housing the element of earth. He recalls something he read from the archives once, his secret stash, the one the Rangers are forbidden to touch. Picking up the Sword, he looks hardly at Emily, who struggles to back on her feet.

"This is a dangerous Disk you are trying to master here, Emily," Jii informs her.

She coughs before replying, "I know." Finally able to raise herself in a sitting position, he continues.

"But, as I told Jayden before, you need to be careful when attempting to control any element, because, right now, you are literally playing with fire."

Emily gets up on her knees. "I-I know that...but I'm always one step behind the others. I need to be the best for Serena and keep getting better."

He had noticed her solemn face when she reread the letter. "What's going on with Serena, Emily?"

Emily hesitates, but she gets up on her feet, finally, and slowly ambles to where Jii is standing, "Mom wrote me a letter today, and she says that Serena's only getting worse. She's in critical condition...she may not make it," she finishes in a low, soft voice, almost a whisper.

"How long does she have?" Jii asks, knowing that this could be a problem with her confidence and her focus.

Emily goes on in the same low voice, "Not sure. The doctors don't know yet...but Mentor? Don't tell the others yet, please. This is my burden. I'll tell them when I'm ready."

Jii nods in understanding. "But we do need to talk about this Disk." Emily's focus was brought back on why she was still here at the House, and not at the state fair with the others. She grabbed her sword back from Mentor, as he went on, "This Disk is the legendary _Five-Element Combination Disk_. Once mastered, it allows control over all five elements, giving you the ability to create any elemental combination possible. It also grants you solo control over the Megazord, something that the Black Box can also give you, if Antonio manages to program it correctly. Yet, training for this Disk...are you prepared to face the risks of attempting to fully master this disk?"

She answers right away. "Yes."

"But, Emily...you could die. I mean, to even have a chance of mastering this Disk, you must have five times the amount of symbol power you have now...you're not ready..."

"Stop it, Mentor," Emily whimpers, holding her Sword out steadily in front of her. "My mind is set. You cannot change it. I know of the risks. My mother told me in her letter. This Disk is what I received from her in the mail today. She told me that I was ready. That alone is enough for me, because she has faith in me. She believes that I can do it. Otherwise, she wouldn't have given it to me. Besides..."she took a deep breath, "would you have said that to anyone else on this team? That they _'weren't ready'_ to master this Disk? That they were too weak to even try?" She stares at him hard in the eyes. "I know I'm the youngest, Mentor, but don't treat me like a child. Stop trying to shelter me from the world, like you're afraid to let me go. You let the others learn from their mistakes. So what makes me so different?" And with this, she turns back around and centers her focus again.

"Emily..." he has no idea what to say. He had no idea they were all treating her like this. But technically, she still was a kid. She was at age 17, a year younger than Mike and Mia, with Jayden and Kevin one year their seniors.

"Besides," she says, getting his attention, without turning her head to face him, "I think it's because I'm a child that...I don't believe in giving up..."

Jii, from that point on, realizes that her mind really could not be swayed.

For now, he can just stay on the sidelines and pray that she doesn't get wiped out completely because of this Disk...

~PRS~PRS~PRS~PRS~

A/N: Well? What do you think of it, so far? Review please. If you have any questions, any one confused, don't hesitate. I will respond in the best way I can.


	2. Chapter 2: Probable Explanations

A/N: I got so many favorites and reviews for the first chapter. Thank you all! Here is the second chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers: Samurai, just the plot.

Note: There will be no real pairings in here, canon or not, just friendship and a bit of fluff. Yeah, it's one of those team-bonding stories. So, enjoy!

~PRS~PRS~PRS~PRS~

**The Song of the Lonely Mountain**

_**Chapter 2: Probable Explanations**_

_Darkness…_

All Emily sees at this moment is darkness. Slowly, she opens her eyes and lifts up her head, taking in her surroundings.

She is in the training yard, lying on her stomach on the rocky ground. Her Spin Sword, with the Combo Disk lies just out of her reach. The sky is dark with the sun just barely sinking below the horizon. The colors of the sunset burn beautifully in the sky and it calms her down.

Emily makes to get up, and both of her hands cringe in pain. She gets a good look at them as she sits up. Her right hand has a nasty burn on the palm, and it goes onto the back of her hand and up past her wrist, but not enough to even reach halfway to her elbow. Her left hand has a small burnt spot on the back of her hand, and it wraps around her arm, reaching all the way to elbow.

Her body feels heavy, and she is exhausted. However, her body temperature feels way too hot for comfort, even though her insides feel like ice. She feels cold on the inside, of burning hot on the outside.

She has no idea what's wrong with her, nor does she want to continue on with her special training. All she wants to do is get back home before the others do.

Unable to dial or grab with her right hand, she uses her left to call Mentor Jii. The tone sounds a couple of times before she hears Jii pick up.

"_Hello?"_

When Emily speaks, her voice shakes, wavering as if she's about to cry. "What time is it?"

"_It's 7:23, Emily. It's almost time for dinner,"_ she hears his gentle, yet confident reply. His voice sounds straight forward, as if he's not afraid of anything_. "Where have you been?"_

"Training," she nearly whispers, "and I think I…passed out for a couple of hours or something. I feel groggy. Are the others back yet?" She prays with all her heart that they aren't. She can't let them see her burns, nor does she have the courage to face them at the moment.

"_No,"_ Jii replies, and she breathes a heavy sigh of relief. _"But the carnival will end at 7:30. They'll be home by 7:45 or so, at least, according to Jayden."_

Her heart skips a beat at the sound of her leader's name, and possibly the name of her crush.

She swallows a hard lump in her throat before going on. "Did you, by any chance, have anything to treat Jayden's burns when he was still training here as a child?"

"_Yes,"_ Jii answers truthfully, not knowing of the awful, third-degree burns on Emily's hands and arms. _"I still do, because he still gets some pretty nasty burns, not as bad as when he was a kid. I make a new batch every week. Why do you ask?"_

"Because…uh…" she hesitates, wondering how she should break this. "Remember how I was practicing with fire with the Combination Disk?"

"_Yes,"_ he sounds suspicious now, as if he's catching on. _"Why? Do you need the antidote for yourself?"_

Emily would nod, but she stops herself, remembering that Jii can't see her, only hear. "Yes, although I don't think Jayden ever got burns as bad as the ones I have now…"

And the first thing he asks is not for confirmation on _'ones'_, as in plural, nor is it for her progress report, how she's doing with the Disk training. _"Are you okay, Emily? Are you hurt? Do you need any help walking back to the House?"_

"No, no, I'm fine," she replies quickly. "Please, just have the antidote and the first aid kit ready." After this, she hangs up.

And she is comforted by his worry.

~T~H~E~S~O~N~G~O~F~T~H~E~L~O~N~E~L~Y~M~O~U~N~T~A~I~N~

When Emily returns to the Shiba House about five to six minutes later, Jii is already there waiting for her. He is not pacing, showing his impatience, rather, he is standing still, peaceful. He merely waits for her.

She is walking slowly, but she's walking as fast as her body will allow her to, at least, without it screaming in pain.

Jii ushers her inside, letting her rest on a bed in the recovery room. The first aid kit and the antidote are already resting on the bedside table, ready to be used. He sits down in the chair next to the bed and she holds out her arms, showing him the burns.

The room is silent as he looks them over, handling them with extra care, more so than usual. Emily cannot stand the silence, so she breaks it.

"So…are they worse than what Jayden has ever had?"

Jii chuckled lightly before replying, "Actually, they're better than the first five times Jayden ever got himself burned, which is quite impressive, as you have never used fire before, have you?"

Emily shakes her head, wondering if he truly means that. "Really?"

"Really," he replies, taking a ball of cotton from the jar and wetting it with the antidote. "Brace yourself, Emily. This will hurt."

Even though she prepares herself in the best way possible, but the pain of the antidote touching the burn even slightly, as gently as possible, still catches her off guard. Pain sears through her entire arm, her left arm, the one closest to Jii, and the one he is treating now, and she barely can contain herself to yell out in agony, to scream at the top of her lungs.

But she does not scream or yell. Instead, her body trembles violently as Jii continues to rub on the antidote on her burn. Tears begin to flood her vision and she passes out for the second time that day, but not before feeling a prick in her left forearm.

~T~H~E~S~O~N~G~O~F~T~H~E~L~O~N~E~L~Y~M~O~U~N~T~A~I~N~

The others actually come back five minutes later than they intend to, which was 7:45 for reminders. They all had a great time at the carnival, but the only thing missing was Emily right along there with them. Mike is disappointed especially.

Emily had _promised_ to join them later.

And she never did.

They enter a very quiet Shiba House, more so and stranger than usual. Around this time, they are used to hearing Jii in the kitchen, fixing dinner. However, this time, he is not.

Jayden has his Samuraizer in hand, fearing the absolute worst. The others following his lead, the Zords ready to jump into action, Jayden softly calls out, "Jii? Emily?"

Jii softly calls back, "In here."

They all walk over to the recovery room, where Jii has just finished bandaging Emily's hands and arms. When they see these bandages, they begin to worry excessively, wondering what Emily was doing the whole time they were out.

Jii looks up in time to see them at the door, Antonio asking, "What happened to Emily?"

"And do you know why she stayed behind today?" Mia adds.

"And why she didn't join us like she promised?" Mike continues, her promise fresh in her mind.

Knowing that Emily wants to keep the Disk a secret, as requested and required by her ancestors, he says nothing about it, not even giving them a single clue. "Oh, Emily stayed behind today because she wanted to help me out with a few chores. However, she wasn't feeling really well around lunch and she passed out, also hurting her arms quite a bit. Hopefully when she wakes up, she'll feel better."

And he thanks the Lord that he also thought of symbol-powering her pajamas on her, which he did before he bandaged her arms, so as to not attract any attention or suspicion when the others come home and see her in her training uniform. He also thanks God that he hid the Disk in his robe, for safe keeping, where the others dare not tread.

But he knows that Jayden, at least, will not buy it, and while the others really do, his suspicion about Jayden knowing something is up is correct. Jii sees in his protégée's eyes that familiar suspicion when he doesn't believe something, but then Jayden covers it up with the same look as the others, hoping that it will keep Jii from knowing that he thinks there's more than meets the eye in this situation.

Easing up the tension, Mia asks, "Dinner?"

"It's already been prepared," Jii replies, mentally sighing with relief. He didn't want to have Mia cooking again. "It's in the refrigerator." Mike looks at Jii square in the face. Oh dear God. Jii knows this look. "It's chicken parmesan."

Jii sighs with heavy relief as the others race off to the kitchen, leaving their mentor alone to watch over a still-passed out Emily.

~T~H~E~S~O~N~G~O~F~T~H~E~L~O~N~E~L~Y~M~O~U~N~T~A~I~N~

When Emily wakes up next, she is in the recovery room still, in her pajamas, the poke in arm gone. She can hear the others in the living room, playing the board game with the mini Zords. She can see Jii sitting at her bedside, reading a book written in Japanese kanji, something that Emily cannot understand. It must be one of the old books that Jii has.

She coughs slightly, catching her mentor's attention.

"Oh, Emily, you're awake," he says quietly. "Before you ask, yes, the others have returned, and it is currently 9:34 at night. They've already had dinner, as have I. Do you want any?"

Emily thinks about this. "Sure." Now that she thinks about it, she is pretty hungry. Jii leaves to warm up her plate in the kitchen. When he is gone, Emily attempts sitting up in her bed, glancing and taking in her bandages, everything about them.

Especially the fact that she has them.

Jii returns with a warm plate of chicken parmesan, basically spaghetti with a chicken patty on top, all of that sprinkled with parmesan cheese. It's a favorite of everyone's, and Jii doesn't make it very often, which is why they all like it.

Emily takes the plate and the fork he brings with him, thankful that Jii didn't heat it up at full blast. She doesn't want to burn her lap too, where the plate is settled. She takes a bite, savoring its awesome flavor.

She swallows and she asks Jii, "What's the diagnosis, Mentor? Do you know why I passed out?"

"Yes, you passed out due to the pain being too much," Jii replies, guilt very evident in his voice. "Unfortunately, I realized this too late, and it was when you passed out that I put morphine in your system."

"That's why I felt a shot in my arm…" Emily mutters, not wavering her gaze from Jii.

Jii nods, and continues, "I've successfully treated the burns on your hands, wrists, and arms. You'll have to keep them bandaged for about a week or so, at least, until I say you can take them off, but you should be okay now."

"Any infections?" Emily takes another bite of her dinner.

"No," he answers. "Currently no risk of infections. You're completely healthy."

"Can I go and join the others? Or do I have to stay in here?" She asks, sadness in her voice. Jii remembers the promise she made to the others, about joining them _'later'_. It's evident that she feels guilty about not keeping her promise.

"Yes, you can, but you should probably know," Jii replies, leaning in closer, knowing very well that they could have some eavesdroppers, so he lowers his voice to a whisper. "I told them that you stayed behind to help me with some chores, but you weren't feeling well, and you damaged your arms when you passed out, assumedly you were carrying something heavy, which is why you have bandages. Okay?"

Emily wordlessly nodded, appreciating that Jii had lied for her, and in awe that he even had the heart to do so.

~T~H~E~S~O~N~G~O~F~T~H~E~L~O~N~E~L~Y~M~O~U~N~T~A~I~N~

Emily approaches the others in mid-game very slowly, holding her half-finished dinner in her hands, mindful that her wounds, her burns, still hurt a bit. She feels guilty that she failed to keep her promise, that she let them down.

They deserve to know what she really did today, but due to the Disk required to be kept a complete secret by her ancestors, she cannot say anything, unless absolutely necessary.

She doesn't really want to interrupt their game, their fun.

She gently clears her throat, quite reluctantly. But she knows she has to apologize for her actions.

They look up at her, and all five of their faces immediately break out into smiles.

"Emily!" Mia exclaims, "You're okay. We were so worried!"

Emily gives a small smile, hoping that they won't notice that it's fake. But she tries to make it real. "Yeah, listen…I'm sorry about today. I know I promised to join you later, but…" She looks down in shame, afraid to finish her sentence.

"It's okay, Em," Mike replies, and she glances back up. "Jii told us what happened, and we understand." Emily remembers in a flash the story Jii told them.

"Yeah, if I hadn't passed out, I really would have joined you," Emily said. "We were almost done too."

They all smile back at her, and she manages to slip on a real smile this time.

Antonio, laying down on one cushion seat, pats the empty seat next to him. "Here, Em. You can join us when this game is done. It won't be that long. Mia's winning."

As she sits, Emily laughs, taking another bite of her dinner. Typical Mia.

_Always perfect at everything…_

Jayden suddenly asks her, "So…Jii asked you to help him?"

"No, I volunteered myself," Emily slowly replies, wondering if Jayden suspects that their story doesn't add up.

Jayden sighs in light relief. "Oh, okay, because Jii doesn't ask anyone for help, only when he needs it and Jii usually doesn't need help with chores."

Even though he is indeed suspicious, Jayden speaks the truth, and Emily knows this.

But he notices her uncomfortable expression, and he regrets asking her this question at all.

"Don't worry, Em," he quietly replies, gently. "I'm not scolding you. Actually, I think it's very honorable that you offered to help Jii."

And Emily's smile is back.

_Finally, a compliment not directed toward Mia or anyone else. Just her._

"Yes! I win! Whoo!" Mia exclaims, her Turtle dancing with Mia in their victory dance.

Knowing the game is over, Emily pulls out her Ape, who jumps out of her hand and lands next to Dragon.

"Don't expect us to go easy on you, Em," Kevin teases, "just because you're the youngest and sweetest and best out of us all."

Emily, however, smirks at him. "Oh, yeah? I accept your challenge."

But before they can start their game, Jii enters the living room.

"Rangers, you guys have been training hard over the past few months. I'm giving you the day off tomorrow as well."

Mike and Antonio celebrate as soon as this slips out of Jii's mouth. Kevin, Mia, and Jayden smile at their antics.

Jii catches Emily's eyes, his own saying, _'I'm doing this for you. I suggest you make the most of it.'_

Emily's smile does not fade, and she nods.

Jii gave them the day off because Emily was training all day, harder than she ever had been.

Everything was fixed, and this made her happy.

_For now._

~PRS~PRS~PRS~PRS~

A/N: Well? What do you think of it, so far? Review please. If you have any questions, any one confused, don't hesitate. I will respond in the best way I can.

And sorry. I know I said no pairings, but I always add a little bit of Jemily fluff to every PRS story I write. ^^'


End file.
